The present disclosure relates to the field of transformer devices and related fabrication techniques.
Transformers are devices that are used to change the voltage of alternating current. In one approach, a manufacturing process for a transformer includes winding coils of wire around a magnetic core. For example, one coil can function as the “primary” winding (e.g., where input voltage is supplied) and a second coil can function as the “secondary” winding (e.g., where output voltage is provided by the transformer). Because coil winding can be a time-consuming process, commercial transformer design is primarily driven by cost. Coil-winding is generally performed manually or using a semi-automated process. The resultant coil may be manually handled and assembled, which is not convenient for high volume manufacturing.
Further complications arise in the area of miniaturized radio frequency (RF) circuitry, such as where the use of discrete passive surface-mount devices can result in a circuit board footprint that is larger than other circuit applications, particularly because of a footprint of magnetic devices such as inductors or transformers. Generally-available surface mount transformers use external leads. During assembly, such leads may be hand-soldered to the circuit board assembly. Such leads may also be hand-soldered internally to respective windings such as through an interposer. Accordingly, a transformer device having such a leaded construction can consume a much larger footprint than other devices such as integrated circuits included as a portion of a printed circuit board assembly.